


Thrills in the Night

by ichthyosaur



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Case Fic, Implied Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sexuality Discovery, dean is bi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 02:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14346378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ichthyosaur/pseuds/ichthyosaur
Summary: “Anyway, I got us a case”Dean takes a careful sip at his coffee in case it’s too hot. “Alright, let’s hear it”His brother brushes a hand through his hair and leans back in his chair.“A gay bar in the outskirts of New Orleans has in the last four weeks had thirteen deaths. The autopsies have concluded that all thirteen people suffered a heart attack without explanation. Police are investigating blah blah blah..”Dean sits frozen in his chair, the last thing he wants to do is go to a gay bar. With Sam...





	Thrills in the Night

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic (on this platform at least) so please cut me some slack. The fic has not been beta read, it’s probably very bad and full of grammatical errors (not a native English speaker). As you can probably tell I started on this in November and I had to project my own feelings lol. (The thing in the beginning)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

As he drags his still tired body out of bed Dean tries to remember his very lovely dream. It had something to do with Cas, though sadly he can’t recall it. He checks his phone; 24th of November, great.

As Dean starts moving down the hallway he can hear a faint voice coming from the kitchen. Sam is singing.

“Dude really? Queen?” Dean says as he enters the kitchen scratching the back of his neck.

Sam looks at him as if he just was caught stealing. “Uh... yeah... You like Queen”

He raises an eyebrow at his brother.  
“Yeah well.. Not exactly in the mood for that right now. Sing yourself sore for all I care, just let it be something else.”

The long haired Winchester practically drops his cup of coffee. “You do know what day it is today right?”

“Of course I do” Dean says as he fills his cup and sits down.

Sam gives him an incredibly confused look then clears his throat. “Anyway, I got us a case”

Dean takes a careful sip at his coffee in case it’s too hot. “Alright, let’s hear it”

His brother brushes a hand through his hair and leans back in his chair.  
“A gay bar in the outskirts of New Orleans has in the last four weeks had thirteen deaths. The autopsies have concluded that all thirteen people suffered a heart attack without explanation. Police are investigating blah blah blah..”

Dean sits frozen in his chair, the last thing he wants to do is go to a gay bar. With Sam...

He sighs and tries to come up with an excuse not to go. “Well y’know, kids these days are trying all kinds of drugs”

Sam frowns and rests his forearms on the table. “I’m sure the doctors made sure to check that Dean. Besides, this is a news article. If it did involve drugs they would without a doubt have written about it. I say we check it out”

Dean grinds his teeth and bounces his leg nervously. He’s been in the closet for soon 30 years and he’s planning to keep it that way. “Fine!” He throws his hands up in defeat and stands up, not even finishing his coffee. “I’ll go pack”  
He leaves before Sam can even open his mouth.

 

The drive feels like it’s taking forever, and Dean can’t shake of the growing anxiety.

“So” Sam starts to break the ice. “Aliases. I’m sure you know what we’re doing today”

He rolls his eyes and reaches the box with fake ID’s and badges. “Yep, I know exactly”  
He rummages through the box quickly and picks two.

“I mean, it’s the anniversary of his death today so it’d only make sense to go Queen” Sam says and looks out the window as Dean throws a badge in his lap. His tall brother opens the badge.  
“Wha.. what’s this?”

“We’re going as agent Carr and Singer”  
He turns on the radio and groans when he realised they’re playing Queen.

“Uh.. why Kiss?” Sam says with almost dumbfounded in confusion.

“Well, even on his death bed Eric Carr didn’t get the recognition he deserved because Freddy Mercury died on the same day.” He finally looks at Sam. “So while everyone else are “celebrating” I’m gonna have a freaking moment of silence for a forgotten legend.”

Sam sighs. “God you are so dramatic.”

 

They eventually reach their destination and check in at the closest motel. It’s a bit fancier than what they are used to, by motel standards that is.  
Sam opens his laptop and continues searching for new information.

“According to police reports there was a witness to the death that occurred three days ago. A woman by the name of Carrie Winston.”

He clears his throat. “Great, you go interview the witness I check out the crime scene.”

Sam looks stumped. “Isn’t it better if we do this together?”

“Nope” Dean answers and grabs his suit to change in the bathroom. He locks the door behind him.

He undresses with shaky hands. Why did it have to be a god damn gay bar? Of all the places! He quickly gets the suit on and spends the next ten minutes pacing back and forth. Eventually he settles on placing his hands on the sink looking himself in the mirror.

“God damn it man up!” Dean growls at himself in the mirror. He’s startled by a knock on the door.

“Dean, everything okay?”

He once again clears his throat. If he keeps this up his throat is gonna be sore by tomorrow.

“Just give me a minute!” Dean says with a shaky voice. Quickly he washes his face and steps out of the bathroom, throwing his clothes on the bed.

His brother looks at him questioningly. “For real, are you okay?”

If Sam keeps asking questions he’s in for a fucking anxiety attack damn it. His self-esteem can’t take any more hits during this case.  
“Yes, back off Sammy” he snaps.

Sam rolls his eyes and heads out the door. Dean takes three deep breaths to keep his heartbeat under control and then follows his brother.

During the whole drive he has to listen to Sam complaining about Dean making things complicated, and that they shouldn’t split up which Dean suggests. Because he wants to spend as much time alone as possible.

He drives to the crime scene after dropping Sam off at the witness. Because the death occurred a few days ago there isn’t anyone at the scene. All deaths have apparently happened in the bathrooms, so the logical move would be to scope them out first.

Dean turns on the EMF detector and it immediately picks up surrounding EMF. It’s without a doubt a ghost. He decides to have a look around the area for clues, and sighs in disappointment when there’s nothing to find.  
Heading back to the car he calls Sam, lets him know it’s a ghost and heads over to pick him up.

“So” Dean starts. “I’m thinking I’ll head back to the hotel and have a nap while you dig out some more info”

“Dude, what’s going on with you?

He sighs and rubs his temple. “I’ve got a real banger headache. Just need to nearly OD on painkillers, have a nap and I’ll be golden”

Sam shrugs. “Alright then. Well I talked to Carrie who said she was there with her friend Andrea Rose, the vic, as moral support. Apparently Andrea had needed a time out and they headed for the bathroom. Carrie said that they had suddenly become very cold not long after Andrea collapsed. She turned around to see a man’s figure disappear.”

Dean raises an eyebrow in suspicion.  
“So is uh.. Carrie.. y’know.. straight?”

“I think so? Dude don’t go hitting on her”

He sighs. “I’m not. I’m just thinking that maybe we got a ghost with a knack for killing gay people”

“A homophobic ghost?” Sam asks.

“Well.. yeah..” Dean draws a shaky breath. “Do you think it goes after bisexual people too?”

“Uh.. I don’t know..? Probably. Why?”

Great, just fucking great. “No reason”

He picks up Sam and they eventually reach the motel and Dean is as fed up with the whole situation as he can be. He parks the car and opens the door.

“So you go do some more digging, and don’t ruin her”  
Dean hands Sam the keys and steps out.  
He rushes back to the room and lays down immediately. After 20 minutes of overthinking and anxiety he finally falls asleep.

Three hours later Dean wakes up to the sound of the door opening. He sits up when he realises it’s Sam that has come back. Wiping drool that has run down his cheek he goes over to sit with Sam at the table. “So, anything?” Dean asks, still groggy from sleep.

“Yeah, only one documented death before the haunting began. A man named Andrew Cooper was beaten to death not far from the bar” Dean sucks in a breath to say something but Sam quickly continues. “I talked to his sister Isabella Cooper and she said he’s cremated”

“Great, how does this tie him to the bar?”

“Apparently he wasn’t homophobic and was visiting it fairly often” his brother says and shrugs.

“I don’t follow, so we got a gay ghost killing gay people. How does that make sense?” He sighs in confusion.

“Isabella mentioned that he struggled with something called internalised homophobia which is...-“

As Sam says that Dean can practically feel the world freeze around him. This case is just hitting all his sore spots isn’t it.

He snaps back to reality before Sam realises he tuned out.

“Maybe he’s vengeful because he never got to be who he really was, never got to be truly happy” his brother states.

“Even if it is him how do we know what he’s tied to? It’s a lost cause Sammy.” Dean knows it’s not impossible at all, but he really doesn’t want to go back there and risk his secret coming out. Pun very much intended.

“I did ask about that” Sam says. “His sister mentioned a ring he cherished that he got from their mother before she died, and it’s gone missing. I’d place my bet on that”

“Alright Sammy that’s fantastic” he stands up. “I’m gonna go get a drink”

“What’s the matter with you?” Sam says challenging him.

When Dean’s response is no more than an eye roll as his brother stands up and starts packing down salt and guns in his duffel bag. “The sooner we get this done the sooner we can get back home. Stop sulking and work the case”

Dean sighs. “Actually I should ask what’s the matter with you?”

“I’ve had enough of your mood Dean. You’ve been cranky all day and it’s getting on my nerves” Sam pulls on a jacket and steps closer to him. “You either work the case with me or you don’t, just get out of my hair man” With long strides he leaves the room.

Dean quickly packs down his gear, throws on a jacket and head out the door, cursing at his brother. He sees Sam leaning against the car, he unlocks the car and gets in. As he does his brother does too.

“How the hell are we supposed to find a freaking ring?”

“We just scope out the place. I mean we can practically go in without guns but you know, insurance” Sam says and shrugs.

“Right..” Dean says and starts the car. “Easiest case ever..”

As they arrive at the location he has a tough time controlling his breathing. Dean’s thoughts aren’t cooperating with him and he can feel a panic attack creeping up. This is a facade he’s kept up entire life and it may be for nothing soon. He’s calling it; the ghost will attack him and Sam will force him to talk afterwards. It’s bound to happen with his bad luck.  
The sound of a car door closing pulls him out of his thoughts.

Dean gets out of the car and grabs their gear from the trunk. What if Sam won’t accept him? What if he’s gonna look at him differently? What if he leaves?

“Dean?” Sam says in a worried tone. “Are you okay?”

“Huh? Uh yeah.. still tired from you stomping in on my nap”

Sam laughs slightly. “Nap? That was like a good night’s sleep to you”.

Dean rolls his eyes as Sam starts walking towards the backdoor. He manages to lock-pick the door open and heads inside.

It’s dark and cold with quite an eerie atmosphere. He turns on his flashlight and start searching for a god damn ring.

“How the hell are we going to find it Sam?”

His brother sighs. “I don’t know. The deaths all happened in the bathrooms, so perhaps that’s a safe bet”.

“Sure, you do that and I’ll stay out here” he puts on the best fake smile he can muster.

“Don’t be ridiculous” Sam says and drags him to the bathrooms.  
Right before they enter Dean stops dead in his tracks.  
Sam turns around to see what’s going on, and Dean looks terrified.

“Hey” his brother says gently. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah” Dean says not even managing to fake a smile. “Dandy. So how about I go back in the main area? It’s not like it’s gonna hurt us so splitting up doesn’t seem all that bad”.

Sam gives him a suspicious look before he sighs and rolls his eyes. “We know it’s probably in here, get your ass moving or I will”.

His brother was genuinely pissed off and he has to admit, if the roles were reversed he would be too. However he is not ready for his secret to be exposed.

“You will what?” He grins at Sam to throw him off.

“Okay”. Sam says and shrugs. “Stay out here then”. He walks into the bathrooms and starts searching. Dean paces for a while until he decides to go in as well.

It’s a very large area and he can see now why Sam wanted help. The ring can be anywhere.  
Once he’s taken merely fives steps into the room he’s flung against the wall and immobilised.

“Dean what..-“

“Just find the ring god damn it!” Dean quickly interrupts.

Suddenly the figure of Andrew appears and places his hand against Dean’s chest, making him scream in pain.  
Sam frantically searches the room wondering how the fuck they’re gonna be able to burn a ring.

Eventually he finds it, and realises it’s a blue plastic ring. If his brother wasn’t near a heart attack he would have been celebrating. Sam quickly throws it in the sink, along with some paper for flammability, and lights it on fire. The ghost of Andrew starts burning and is soon gone.

Dean falls to the floor feeling like he wants to cry. His secret is out and Sam will probably leave him. He wishes he could merge with the floor and disappear right now so he doesn’t have to face his response.

After Sam has put out the fire he walks over to Dean and crouches down, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Dean is resting his face in his right hand, doing his best to look the other way. He has white noise in his ears and he just wants to curl up in a ball, away from everything and everyone. Sam puts an arm around him and pulls him up.

“I don’t want you sit on the floor like that, you’ll get cold”. He nods at the cold floor tiles.

“So you’re just gonna pretend none of that happened?” Dean says with a shaky voice.

“Of course not..” Sam says in a gentle tone. “I want you to ground yourself first, and then we can talk about it when you’re not moping on a cold bathroom floor”.

Dean clears his throat and straightens his back. “Right. I’m gonna leave”  
He makes a 180 turn and practically runs for the door. It’s not until he reaches the car that he’s been crying the whole time. Out of frustration and anger he punches the steering wheel, but then feels kinda bad. Baby did nothing wrong. Dean turns on the music as an attempt to calm himself down. After a while Sam gets out with arms full of gear. He must’ve taken off without his gear he now realises.

“What took you so long?” Dean asks once his brother is in the car. “Did you feel right at home in there?”

“You have to stop projecting” Sam says with a sigh. “Questioning your identity isn’t as controversial as it was 30 years ago”

“I’m not questioning anything Sammy” he says looking out the window.

“Wow, you’re already pretending that it didn’t happen” Sam pinches the bridge of his nose. “He attacked you the moment you stepped into that room. The only person you’re fooling is yourself”

“So? He must’ve known what we were up to” Dean says trying to defend himself. “We’ve seen that countless times”

“You know what? Fine” Sam says and shrugs. “You’re not hurting me, you’re not hurting Cas, you’re only hurting yourself by doing this. So if you wanna lie to yourself, fine”

They didn’t say another word on the whole way home. As soon as they get back Dean locks himself in his room, puts on some headphones and drifts away. He suddenly jolts awake by knock on the door.

“Dean, you’ve been in there for hours. I made pancakes so, come out if you want some”

He sits up in confusion, how long had he slept for? Perhaps it’s time for him to come clean. Sam doesn’t seem to mind and honestly Dean is damn tired of hiding. It’s not like it will change anything. He knows he’ll regret this and probably spiral downwards after it, but it for now it seems like the right thing to do. He slowly makes his way to the kitchen, with a heart rate that must be way over what’s healthy.

Dean sits down and Sam places down pancakes as well as a beer for him. He sure does know how to convince Dean; give him food. His brother puts down a bottle of syrup on the table.

“Don’t give yourself a heart attack” Sam says and chuckles, gesturing towards the syrup bottle.

After a while in silence Sam’s body language shows that he thinks it’s time to talk.

“Go on” Dean says.

“I just.. I don’t know” Sam says and drags a hand through his hair and leans back. “I guess I’ve always had my suspicions, you’re not exactly subtle when you see or talk to someone you like”.

Dean just stares down at the table, too afraid to look his brother in the eyes.

“And I guess that my suspicions where sorta confirmed when mom came back” Sam continues. “One night when you were off doing god knows what, she told me embarrassing things you had done before everything happened. Apparently she got a lot of upset calls from the daycare because you went around kissing boys” His brother chuckles and smiles at him, trying to make this conversation easier.

He finally looks up and realises it’s really not that difficult. What is he afraid of? Letting down his brother who’s been there for him through everything. If the Mark of Cain thing didn’t push Sammy away there’s probably nothing that could, and he’s grateful for that.

“So..” Sam starts and draws a long breath. “I’m gonna ask you this in confidence I don’t get that bottle in my face or that you storm off”.

Alright, now he was kinda scared.

“When uh.. Cas came back from the empty you were pretty much over the moon” Sam doesn’t look him in the eyes.

“Get to the point man” Dean said just wanting to get this over with.

“You acted pretty much the same way as when you were under that love spell. So that got me thinking that’s all...”

“Do we have to?”

“No” his brother says and smiles. “We don’t. I was just gonna say that I’m pretty sure he’s interested”. Sam winks.

“Wh...- what do you mean?” Dean says and feels his palms getting sweaty.

“Come on, I’ve been the third wheel in your interactions for a decade now. I really thought your staring competitions would get someone killed someday”.

He sighs and runs a hand over his face.

“Look” Sam says and leans forward. “I’m not gonna force you to do anything about it now, but nine years is long enough”

“I’m not having this conversation..”

His either sighs. “I just want you to be okay Dean”.

“I am Sammy. It’s just.. it’s just gonna take a little time to figure everything out” He gives Sam a weak smile.

Sam smiles back and he actually looks really proud. “Of course” he says.

“Let’s eat!” Dean says and begins to pour half of the syrup bottle’s contents onto his plate. For what’s probably the first time in his life, he feels proud of who he is. He feels that everything is going to be okay and hell, maybe he should tell Cas too soon...

**Author's Note:**

> I do realise that it doesn’t make sense that Dean would be able to walk into the bathrooms first on his own, and then he wouldn’t, but it took so long for me to write this that I forgot what I had written so.. ignore that!


End file.
